Wednesday, April 21, 2010

In typical Phish fashion, the film is short on talk and heavy on music, featuring numerous, lengthy jams culled from the 16-hour concert, including popular Phish songs like “Tweezer” and “Maze,” several tunes from the band’s first-ever acoustic set and a few songs from its Halloween night “musical costume” performance of the Rolling Stones album “Exile On Main Street.” The performance features raucous back-up vocals from Saundra Williams and Sharon Jones of the funk and soul act The Dap-Kings, as well as a three-piece horn section that provides extra punch for Phish’s genre-defying musical improvisation.

The American rock band Phish filmed a 3D movie of their Festival 8 concert in Indio, California. What perfect timing for a sneak peak on 4/20 at Rave 18 in Los Angeles. Of course we were there to get Fan Reviews of this epic event.

Sadly, lighting designer Chris Kuroda’s light show is not as eye-popping as usual due to breezy outdoor conditions that limit the amount of haze that is required for the more textured beams of light that typically give a Phish show its most three-dimensional qualities . Kuroda’s colorful use of LED lighting on the palm trees behind the stage was a highlight to many who attended the festival, but it’s barely noticeable in the film due to low camera angles (from the “pit” in front of the stage), quick cuts and not enough panoramic shots of the production as a whole. There is also hardly any footage of the various glowing art installations, fan costumes or synchronized pyrotechnics that made the festival unique. The vast majority of the film takes place within the cozy confines of the stage, which doesn’t necessarily require 3D technology.

Having passed on Avatar and hearing mostly meh things about Alice in Wonderland, the last time I saw a 3D Movie in the theaters Dennis Quaid was chasing a giant shark and Darryl Strawberry was a lanky rookie. So I was a little unsure of what to expect from the Phish 3D preview on April 20 in Brooklyn. Since the music has been reviewed ad nauseum (and for the record – I am in the “the Exile set was amazing, the acoustic set was cool and the rest was pretty average” camp when it comes to the music played that weekend), here is a quick rundown of the things that I liked most about the movie and a couple of things I would have done differently.

Because “Wicked Fast” Wilson couldn’t keep his itchy finger off the switches in the editing room, the camera jumps around so often – a different angle and distance about every 1.5 seconds or less – that your eyes never have enough time to adjust to the changing depths. Even movie rubes like me know you don’t fill a shoestring 3D movie with quick cuts; it throws the eyes into violent oscillations of depth-perception. And it sucks.

At best, the cheesy, timed-with-the-music cuts start to jangle your nerves. At worst, you start to get a near-audible “thunk” in the back of your eyeballs with every jump.

"But it's actually kind of exciting for me because I know they're from Vermont so it's actually kind of neat. Hoping we might see a surprise appearance here or something in their hometown maybe?" said Paul Lacroix.

The band did not turn out for the screening but that was no big deal for Lacroix's young son, Edward. He wore an adult-sized Phish T-shirt to the premiere and said he was most excited about the 3-D aspect of the movie. He has never been to a concert and said he was "like, really excited" to watch the movie.

For fans who could not make it to the advanced screening, the "Phish 3D" movie begins its nationwide run April 30.